CHAPTER XXI. 



Andes — Aconcagua — Villarica — Islay — Powder — Callao — Rejoin Beagle 

 — Constitucion — Plans — Wilson — Carrasco — ' Galapagos' — Iguanas 



— Lava Rocks — Land- tortoises — Craters — Turtle — Shells Dye — 



Volcanoes — Settlement — Albemarle Island — Cyclopian Scene — Tagus 

 Cove — Tide Ripples — Settlers— Climate — Salt — Dampier— Birds — 

 Transportation of Tortoises — Currents — Temperature of Water. 



The irreclaimably barren appearance of the sea coast of 

 Northern Chile, is very repulsive to an eye accustomed to 

 woodland scenery : yet there is an effect in its lofty moun- 

 tains, which seem to rise abruptly almost from the ocean, that 

 charms one for a time. Just before sunrise is generally the 

 most favourable moment for enjoying an unclouded view of the 

 Andes in all their towering grandeur : for scarcely have his 

 beams shot between their highest pinnacles into the westward 

 vallies, when clouds of vapour rise from every quarter, and 

 during the rest of the day, with few exceptions, obscure the 

 distant heights. 



It has been long supposed that the Andes are higher about 

 the equator than near or beyond the tropic; but the Beao-le's 

 measurements of Aconcagua* and Villarica,f prove that there 

 is still much to be ascertained on this subject. Few results, 

 depending upon angular measurement, are more difficult to ob- 

 tain with accuracy than the heights of distant mountains. With 

 respect to Aconcagua, though a variety of measurements, taken 

 by different officers at various times, agreed together so closely 

 as to give from 23,200 to 23,400 feet for the vertical elevation 

 of that volcano above the level of the sea, I would not claim 

 to be much nearer the truth than within 500 feet. 



The Blonde touched at Cobija, Arica, and Islay— hapless 

 arid dwelling-places for either man or beast, as I have ever 



* Lat. 32». 39'. S. : height, 23,000 feet above the sea level, 

 t Lat. 39\ 10'. S. : height, 16,000 feet above the sea level. 

 VOL. II. 2 I 



